Pollution, wildfire smoke, and other toxins fill our skies every day. This has people staying indoors in a time when isolation and fears are increasing due to pandemic lockdowns and other social distancing efforts. It’s driving increasing levels of depression, anxiety, brain fog, and more. But there are other reasons as well that toxins in our air trigger cognitive issues and psychiatric symptoms.
Smoke and air pollution contain harmful toxins that can damage your brain and increase the risk of developing mental health conditions. According to 2019 research in Environmental Health Perspectives and Plos Biology, geographical regions that have high levels of air pollution are linked to a higher incidence of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, psychosis, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. However, despite the new evidence, traditional psychiatry typically does not address environmental toxins as a causative factor.
It is becoming clearer that there is an association between environmental toxins, brain health, and psychiatric and cognitive problems.
What is a toxic brain?
Toxic Brain occurs when environmental toxins harm the brain and contribute to psychiatric or cognitive issues. Environmental toxins impact nearly every aspect of your body and can damage the brain.
In brain SPECT scans, an indication of decreased blood flow to the brain and a scalloped appearance are typically a sign of potential toxicity. When this pattern occurs, a functional medicine doctor and/or neuropsychiatrist will want to investigate the origins.
Symptoms of a toxic brain
Exposure to toxins is associated with a variety of physical and psychiatric symptoms. On the physical side, issues can include diabetes, cancer, autoimmune diseases, numbness, fatigue, tremors, tingling, allergies, abdominal pain, diarrhea, smelly stools, bad breath, weight issues, skin rashes, sweats, and more.
Research shows that from a psychiatric standpoint, exposure to toxins can increase the risk of:
- Anxiety
- Suicide
- ADD/ADHD
- Learning problems
- Memory problems and dementia
- Depression
- Brain fog
- Autism
- Temper outbursts
- Psychotic behavior
If you’re already struggling with mental health disorders, brain fog, or other cognitive issues, exposure to toxins may worsen symptoms.
How toxic is your brain?
Toxic air pollution like wildfire smoke can damage your brain and contribute to mental health issues and cognitive problems. Each day, you are exposed to chemicals, fumes, pesticides, and other products that harm your brain. Common toxins in the air we breathe, the foods we eat, and the products we rub on our skin are absorbed into our bodies via our lungs, digestive system, and pores. They can eventually cause a negative effect on your brain. The higher the daily exposure you face, the more your brain is at risk.
Answer the below questions to understand better what your brain’s toxic load may be. More “yes” answers mean more exposure.
- Have you lived or worked in a building that has mold in it?
- Do you come in contact with flame-resistant clothing or carpet, or with furnishings sprayed with chemicals to prevent stains?
- Do you spray your garden, farm, or orchard with pesticides or live near an area with pesticides?
- Do you paint indoors without ventilation?
- Do you have more than four glasses of alcohol a week?
- Do you regularly eat processed or fast foods?
- Do you regularly eat conventionally raised produce, meat, dairy, or farm-raised fish?
- Do you smoke, or are you around secondhand smoke?
- Do you smoke marijuana?
- Do you use conventional cleaning products and breathe the fumes?
- Have you been exposed to carbon monoxide?
- Do you travel on planes frequently?
- Do you live in an area with moderate to high air pollution?
- Are you being exposed to smoke from wildfires?
- Do you eat large (i.e., mercury-contaminated) fish, such as swordfish?
- Do you eat non-organic fruits and vegetables on a regular basis?
- Do you consume foods with artificial colors or sweeteners, such as diet sodas, or use artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame (NutraSweet), sucralose (Splenda), or saccharin (Sweet’N Low)?
- Do you use more than 2 health and/or beauty products per day?
- Do you live in a house that contains lead pipes or copper plumbing soldered with lead (built prior to 1978)?
- Do you have mercury amalgam fillings? How many?
- Do you work in a job where you are exposed to environmental toxins, such as firefighting, painting, welding, longshoreman?
- Have you had general anesthesia? How many times?
How to help heal your brain from toxic exposures
If you face chronic exposure to environmental toxins and have cognitive or psychiatric symptoms, take a deeper look at your environment and lifestyle choices. SPECT imaging can help determine if there is the telltale scalloping pattern and reduced overall activity typically seen in toxic brain and can provide valuable insights into other conditions.
You can heal your brain. Here are some steps to take:
- Limit or eliminate your exposure to toxins.
- Choose organic foods when possible.
- Always wash your fruits and vegetables.
- Avoid processed foods and those with chemical ingredients.
- Choose meat and dairy that is antibiotic and hormone-free.
- Quit smoking, stop using marijuana and limit alcohol to 2-4 glasses a week.
- Remove “silver” dental fillings.
- Reduce your consumption of toxin-contaminated foods.
- Drink 3-4 quarts of clean water a day.
- Check your home for mold and eliminate it.
- Use an air purifier.
- Eliminate unsafe cleaning and personal care products
- Start a brain rehab program.
- Adopt habits that help the brain.
- Consider neurofeedback.
- Try hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), which can speed the healing of the brain.
- Take brain-enhancing supplements, such as omega-3 fatty acids.
The cognitive and psychiatric health problems linked to toxic brain must be addressed. Your mental well-being is crucial to your overall well-being. Consider making the changes above, and consult with a functional medical doctor on improving your brain function.